Anthro

Pretty small stuff, but I thought someone might be interested in this quick fix.

My speaker covers on the parcel shelf had some disintegrating foam inside. Not surprising after fifteen years of sun.



Bend back the tabs on the steel mesh and you can remove what's left of the foam. When you are separating the steel grille from the plastic, be careful as you can crease the steel if you do not remove it evenly.


Here is the replacement foam. Remember, SCISSORS ARE SHARP! The replacement foam is inexpensive even with delivery.



Put in the foam, reseat the steel mesh (it needs to be pushed into the grooves in the plastic) and bend the tabs back into place for a nice snug fit.



Both done.



Obviously you replace old speakers while you are at it... old:



New...



And then put the covers back in.

kd7iwp

Is the foam purely cosmetic? To keep dirt from landing on/bouncing on the speakers? I have an E61 so mine are inverted on the roof so I don't think this applies to me. Great find though, any chance you have specs on the foam, such as thickness? Lastly, which speakers did you get?

Anthro

I am pretty sure it's (a) cosmetic and (b) for dust/grit prevention. Thin foam is (they say) "acoustically transparent" so it shouldn't have any effect on sound either way. The stuff I bought is 3mm thick, it is just called "hi fi foam" or something like that. It's 3mm thick but you squeeze it to zero between your fingers, ie it is not at all dense.

The speakers are, supposedly, the B&W speakers available as the higher option in later models, ie exactly what you'd get if you'd gone with the B&W audio option in a later bimmer. They plug and screw straight in. I am not yet sure it was worth the effort. My car has the "hi fi" option and the stock speakers are not terrible at all. The new ones are definitely high quality, all metal body, some kind of synthetic mesh cone, and neodymium speakers (originals are heavier with ferrite magnets). The most I can say about performance at this point is that the new ones are very, very clear and crisp, but I am trying to decide if they are a bit tinny or if they are just so much clearer that I think they sound tinny. I put an old and a new side by side on a bench and played some test tracks and to my ear there was not much difference except better clarity. That said the B&Ws should be able to handle at least twice as much power from what I can tell with the limited specs I can find. When I've put in the front ones as well I'll have more of a view on whether it's worth it. I bought them a bit impulsively.

I also have a two-channel amp for the subwoofers and a four-channel for the rest sitting here ready to go in. Sub amp is easy to install, but I have to run cable for the four-channel (head unit to boot, a total of eight pairs...) or else put the amp up the front and then run power somehow, so I am dithering....

I will post separately about the speakers and amps when I have done a bit more fooling around.

donpb

That looks like PC dust filter material. You can find sheets on Amazon.